Wings of Fire: Legends ~ Drip and Scorch

Chapter 5 ~ Lapis

I arrived at dawn. I would have collapsed in exhaustion if not for the speck of the dragon den on the horizon. That was a while ago.

But right now, at full noon and just fifty cubits from the den, my foolishness had led me right into the claws of a vicious sand dragon who probably wanted me dead by now.

Looking up at the dragon, panic shot through me. However, it seemed to be lost in thought, as if my dad's sudden action of saving my life had somehow made it realize something.

Several long seconds passed before the beast looked down with sympathy and glared at my father who had just shoved me away from potential death. It made a couple of growls and noises.

"Dad, why are you here?!" I exclaimed.

"Lazuli told me you had left to find a 'magical dragon,'" he responded sternly, not looking away from the giant scaled threat. I felt a pang of betrayal from Lazuli and a concoction of mixed feelings to have my father there.

Returning to my surroundings, I remembered my studies on dragon language. I was nearly fluent in writing, but I couldn't speak it. I thought of what I should write to the dragon.

My dad looked at me with a confused expression. He was attempting his best to protect us from the living death machine in front of us as I appeared to be pondering a math problem. "What are you doing? And why have you got those jewels?" he hissed out the side of his mouth, getting more nervous by the second. I ignored his remark. I replied to the dragon with the best translation I could muster.

"MY FATHER," I wrote in the sand with the wooden pole of the weather-bleached flag. The sand dragon's eyes widened more and more the closer I got to finishing. As I raised my hand to point to my father, it jumped back and fluttered its wings, creating a small quake around us. It looked stunned, and reasonably so; I had just communicated to it in its own language. I smirked at the idea that it didn't expect us humans to be so smart. It blinked its eyes, apparently trying to make sense of what it saw. It rumbled an exclamation that sounded something like "What?!"

My father stared at me, his eyes also wide. "D-did you just write something to that dragon?" My cheeks flushed. I hadn't told my dad about any of my plans yet and how I had prepared for them. "What did you say to it?"

"Listen, dad, this is something I need to do myself. It's something I've been planning for a while now and it's kind of personal," I explained.

My dad stared at me grimly. "Handle this by yourself?" he spat. "You nearly got yourself killed! You would be dead to that dragon right now if you were 'by yourself!'"

I could see out of the corner of my eye that the dragon was watching curiously as I and my father argued over the dilemma. We kept yelling back and forth about what should be done.

As we were absorbed in our argument, the dragon pulled out a strange, sparkling piece of jewelry from the pouch slung across its torso.

When my dad glanced back at the dragon, he flinched. He shushed me and seemed to be caught off-guard. I saw his dagger lower just a bit.

"Dad! What are you doing? We need to force this dragon to listen to us or we'll be killed!" I shouted.

"Ha," he said. "What a ludicrous world this is." The sun mercilessly beat down on our tired figures in the silence. I was suddenly aware of the wind and my eyes felt dry. "I came to this awful place. As a kid, just like you. I stole that necklace. I was so self-absorbed because of the feat that I fell and almost suffocated in quicksand. This dragon. This one came and saved me. I gave the necklace to it." He turned from the dragon to look at me with yearning eyes. "I was worried that you would not be so lucky. I ran after you to stop you." He looked back at the dragon, which hadn't looked away from him. "I could never get over my fears again." Dad walked away and sat in the sand a stone's throw behind me. I thought I saw a tear on his face. He had some things to think about.

I realized that this is why he was always so interested yet disapproving of dragons. I had always suspected there was something he wasn't telling me. I peered at the dragon and it peered back. I asked the beast, "Have you met this human?"

"SCAVENGER, YOU MEAN," it responded, also writing in the sand with its mighty claws. "YES. CHANGED MY LIFE." It pointed at the necklace that it was now wearing.

I was ecstatic. The weariness of my travels had faded, and I was flooded with curiosity. I thought I almost saw a glint of sorrow in the dragon's eyes.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" I wrote.

"SCORCH," it wrote. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

I savored the moment. I was on the brink of a new life. I grinned.

"DRIP."